‘Pokemon Go’ Beta Arrives In The US [VIDEOS]

The Pokemon "Pikachu" float makes its way down 6th avenue during the 89th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in the Manhattan borough of New York, November 26, 2015.
Reuters/Shannon Stapleton

Game maker Niantic Labs announced on Wednesday that “Pokemon Go" will be launched into beta in the U.S. The company also invited field testers to give their feedback about the game.

Field tests are already underway in Australia, New Zealand and Japan. After the field test in the U.S., the game is expected to make a public debut, Tech Crunch reported.

According to the video game’s website, “Pokemon Go” is built on Niantic’s Real World Gaming Platform which will use real locations. This will encourage players of the game to search the real world to discover and catch more than a hundred different Pokemon.

Pokemon Gyms will also be located in real-world locations where Pokemon battles will be held. Users can join teams to battle others to gain control of the Gym. In a character’s journey, there will also be PokeStops that are located in historical markers, public art installations and monuments. These areas will enable players to collect more Poké Balls and other items from the game.

In addition, trainers in the game can help a Pokemon evolve and they can also find, connect and hatch Pokemon Eggs. Users can aim the Poke Ball at a Pokemon to catch it using the touch screen of their smartphones. Other Pokemon items such as Great Balls, will also be available in the game.

About 100 wild Pokemon can be captured in the game and a player will be alerted through push notifications when one is near.

A portable device called “Pokemon Go” Plus will also be released. The Go Plus will enable “Pokemon Go” players to connect to their smartphone via Bluetooth.

News of Niantic’s “Pokemon Go” project broke out in 2015 alongside a $20 million (P933.8 million) round of Series A funding from Nintendo, Google and the Pokemon Company group. Niantic works like a startup instead of relying on a parent company’s support.

Once the game is released, it will be available for Android and iOS. The game is free to play but certain enhancements, items and features can only be accessed via in-app purchases.

“Pokemon Go” is a Generation VI mobile game that is part of the popular Nintendo “Pokemon” game series which started in 1996. It is expected to launch in the latter part of 2016.

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